Tales from the Crypt Vol 1 38

Tales from the Crypt Vol 1 #38

October, 1953

Cover Artists

Jack Davis

Publisher

EC Comics

"Tight Grip!"
Pencilers Jack Davis

"Only Skin Deep!"
Pencilers Reed Crandall

"Last Laugh"
Pencilers Will Elder

"Mournin' Mess"
Pencilers Graham Ingels

Previous Issue

Next Issue

Tales from the Crypt #37

Tales from the Crypt #39

Appearing in "Tight Grip!"

• Appearances not yet listed
  

Synopsis for "Tight Grip!"

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

This story is narrated by a trunk and concerns the murder of a woman the trunk is fond of. When the murderer attempts to hide in the trunk, he panics and shoots holes through it, whereupon the trunk contracts itself turning the killer into flesh spaghetti and concentrated bone.

Appearing in "Only Skin Deep!"

• Appearances not yet listed
  

Synopsis for "Only Skin Deep!"

• 
• 
• 

A man marries a woman at Mardi Gras who wears a hag mask. She continually puts off his requests to remove her mask until he becomes agitated enough to bodily pull the mask off of her head whereupon he realizes she wasn't wearing a mask.

Appearing in "Last Laugh"

• Appearances not yet listed
  

Synopsis for "Last Laugh"

An obese practical joker with a stomach problem visits a doctor. He relates his latest practical joke involved getting some old clothes and bloody butchered chunks of horse flesh to take down to the trainyard near where some children regularly play. When the train rolls through, he lets out a scream after dropping the gory mess on the rails, and finds the ensuing panic tearfully funny. The doctor gives him some capsules to swallow for his stomach pain and then reveals that he used to have a wife and two children, one of whom used to play by the trainyard. As a result of the prank, the boy rushed into the path of a truck and was killed. The doctor's wife forgot about the infant she was bathing and it drowned. She died of a heart attack. The vengeful doctor reveals that the capsules contained fish hooks and he straps the obese man to a table and tickles him so that he will literally 'die laughing'.

Appearing in "Mournin' Mess"

• Appearances not yet listed
  

Synopsis for "Mournin' Mess"

The Grateful Hoboes, Outcasts, and Unwanteds' Layaways Society is run by a man who read 'Midnight Mess' in Tales from the Crypt #35. He offers a pleasant burial for the penniless. A local reporter thinks their setup odd, and when his boss later tells him that they have buried their 1000th derelict, he is sure something stinks because their cemetery does not have enough area for 1000 graves. After the burial at night, he buys a spade and stakes out the recent grave. Shockingly, he watches as the recent risen grave dirt recedes to the point that it is level with the ground. He sets to digging up the grave and hits a metal trap door that collapses inward to a series of tunnels. The leader of the society pulls a gun on him and explains their purpose. hint: (read the initials of the society)

Notes

• This cover was censored as being much too gory for readers, as it featured the woman's head and arm in the trunk. The Gemstone reprinting displays the actual cover.
• The third story is actually based on an incident that Bill Elder was involved with as a boy.
  

Trivia

• No trivia.

---

See Also

• Discuss Tales from the Crypt Vol 1 38 on the forums
• Cover gallery for the Tales from the Crypt series
• Images from Tales from the Crypt Vol 1 38

---

Recommended Reading

• None.

Links and References

• None.

This page seems to be missing something', Comics Fan This comic issue page is in need of a summary. Please follow the guidelines in the Help section and complete this article to the highest level of quality. Remove this message when finished.